Win a free pass to BizJam Seattle 08

Hey, Seattle… I have a couple of free two-day passes to give away to BizJam Seattle 08, the second annual indie business conference being put on in West Seattle on July 9th and 10th by the social networking site Biznik (value $390)! Read on to see how you can win one…

But first, I wanna say, this ain’t yer mama’s biz conference. (Biznik’s motto is “Business networking that doens’t suck” — need I say more?) The first day of the conference is devoted entirely to using social media to grow your biz. The second covers nuts and bolts like raising your rates, negotiating killer contracts, and making sure your website doesn’t suck. (Schedule here.) There’s also an evening shindig on July 10th at the Little Red Studio in downtown Seattle, complete with aerialists, an improv act, food, and booze.

Since I’ll be leading a BizJam session called So You Wanna Be a Published Author? A Primer in Selling Your First Book on the 10th, the good folks at Biznik gave me these “scholarships” to pass along to aspiring and current anti 9-to-5ers in need. To win one of these free passes:

• Email me a short note with your best sob story about your financial woes, boss from hell, freelance struggles, or any other compelling reason why I should give you one of these free passes.
• Swear on your first client’s life that you will go to at least one day of the event and not blow it off. If you have a day job, that means calling in sick.
• Get me your entries by 10 a.m. PST Tuesday, July 8th, which is when I’ll be selecting and notifying the winners — who by the way, will get a nice plug on this here blog, complete with a link to their blog, website, Flickr page, or any other URL they want and a pic of their shiny mug, products, or logo.
• Remember to give me your email address. If you’re a lucky winner, I’ll get you the free conference pass via email. Piece of cake.

Enjoy the fireworks tonight, and try not to lose any fingers!

1 comment July 4th, 2008

Five types of freelancer in seriously high demand

Being your own boss means different things to different people.

For me, it means kissing those dreaded dry cleaning bills goodbye and working in my sweatpants. For Harris, a Web programmer I met at a friend’s wedding, it means never having to set the alarm clock again. For my friend Tammy, a marketing maven and mother of two, it means losing the commute and saving a bundle in day care.

Contrary to popular belief, achieving this kind of career autonomy without winding up on food stamps is entirely possible. And it doesn’t even require a four-year college degree or a significant financial investment.

Even better, there’s a rich market of customers just waiting to be tapped.

The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reports that more than 12 million people work for themselves. And I can tell you from years of experience in the freelance trenches that many of us self-employed slobs need help with everything from setting up a blog to tracking our business expenses to keeping up with our blasted e-mail in-boxes.

In honor of Independence Day, I’ve outlined five low-cost freelance businesses that you can start from the comforts of your home and market to other independent professionals — plus, the skills, training and overhead they require. See if one lights a firecracker under you.

You can read the rest of the article here, at abcnews.com.

3 comments July 4th, 2008